


Blue By You

by tvparty18



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 15:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6201355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvparty18/pseuds/tvparty18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy starts questioning fate as she keeps running into James.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blue By You

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot, that's all mine. Everything else belongs to Marvel Comics, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige and anyone else involved in “Thor," “Captain America,” and “the Avengers.” Blue By You is a song by Turnstile.

_“I feel your energy and fall apart. Head and heart are torn in two.” -_ Turnstile

Darcy isn’t quite sure why she’s at this party. She knows it’s a birthday party for Steve, knows it is also the fourth of July (which always calls for a cookout), and knows that she was doing research in D.C. with Jane when Sam Wilson walked right into their makeshift lab and invited them.

 

But seriously, why is she here? She knows Jane, of course, and Thor pretty well but everyone else might as well be figments of her imagination because how the hell are they real and how the hell is she in the same social group as fucking Captain America?

 

So, she has one of two options. Option A: get some liquid courage going, tap into that confidence, flirt her ass off, probably get drunk or Option B: make small talk, drink a beer or two, make an excuse to leave early. While Option A seems like the best one, Option B seems like the most practical because there is probably nothing worse than that shame one feels creeping through their hangover at what they did the night before and when you factor superheroes into that it’s probably a thousand times, transport me into another dimension because I’m an idiot, worse. So Option B it is. She squares her shoulders and makes her way around the room. She wishes Steve a happy 30th with a wink that makes him chuckle, she tells Sam what a great get together it is, introduces herself to Clint who in turn introduces her to Natasha but Darcy gets too nervous trying to impress them and makes an excuse to use the bathroom. She gets a drink and settles onto the sofa content to observe but she’s not there long before someone sits in the adjacent chair.

 

She’s got a pretty good read of everyone in the room but has no idea who this dude is. He nods at her when he sits, giving her the slightest hint of a smile. His hair is pulled back into a messy bun, which Darcy kind of hates that she likes. He has on dark pants with combat boots but he looks sort of uncomfortable in the button down and tie. This is confirmed when he tugs at the knot on the tie and sighs before rolling his sleeves up.

 

Darcy finishes her drink, taps the bottle against her lips, and before she loses her nerve, stands and taps him on the shoulder.

 

“I’m gonna get another drink. You want anything?”

 

He jumps lightly at being addressed but clears his throat as if his voice is out of practice. “Um…” his chin shifts while he thinks, “Yeah…yeah all right. Beer is fine, I guess.”

 

Darcy smiles brightly at him, “You got it!”

 

When she gets back, she’s happy to see that he’s still there and she can’t hold another smile back when he gives her one as she hands him his beer.

 

“Thanks,” he says as he salutes her with the bottle.

 

“Anytime,” she thrusts her right hand at him, “I’m Darcy by the way.”

 

He passes the beer bottle to his left hand, which Darcy notices is gloved, before taking her hand and shaking it slowly. His grip is firm but has a slight tremor to it.

 

“James. Nice to meet you.” He lets go of her hand as she sits but turns the chair slightly so he can face her. “Why aren’t you out there?”

 

She shrugs and brushes her hair behind her ear, “Truthfully,” she ducks her head down but not before he sees the slight redness of her cheeks, “they make me nervous. I’m not cool enough for them, man.”

 

She swears she hears him chuckle, “they’re all fat-heads, doing what they do.”

 

Darcy laughs lightly, “Eh. I don’t about that. What do you do?”

 

He takes a long swig of his beer before answering, “I’m in the army. I’ve known Steve for a while now. What about you?”

 

“I work with Jane. I was her assistant but I’ve graduated to the more glamorous title of lab tech.”

 

“She’s Thor’s girl, right? The big guy’s always talking about how smart she is. Puts Stark in his place.”

 

Darcy smiles proudly and nods. “You should see her. It’s magical.”

 

“He’s an asshole. His old man knew what he was about. It’s a shame he’s got such a knucklehead as a son.”

 

Darcy’s laugh is so loud that Natasha looks over at her and James. James smiles.

 

He rolls his now empty bottle back and forth between his hands, “I gotta get outta here. It was nice talking to you.”

 

“Yeah, you too. Thanks for keeping me company.”

 

“Anytime.” James gives her a small salute as he walks away.

 

Darcy watches him make his way through the crowd. When he walks by Natasha he runs his hand lightly along her bicep, she offers him a smile but nothing else. He pats Sam on the shoulder but stops at Steve. Darcy notices he tenses slightly when Steve pulls him into a hug but he takes it and hugs Steve back.

 

Darcy finishes off the rest of her drink before making her goodbyes. Jane offers to leave with her but Darcy assures her that she’ll be fine. Their hotel isn’t too far from Sam’s house and the weather’s cooled down a bit in the night so she waves one last time and goes on her way.

 

To say she’s startled when a car pulls up next to her would be an understatement. She picks up her pace when the window goes down but stops immediately at the voice calling out to her.

 

“Hey doll…Darcy!” She looks over her shoulder and there’s James, his head out the window. “How far you going?”

 

“Just a couple blocks. I’m okay.” She smiles at him and waves before turning again.

 

“I can’t let you walk home. Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

 

She’s about to reassure him again when the wind shifts and she involuntarily shivers, “Okay, fine.” She doubles back as he opens the door for her from the inside.

 

His car is all black, and very neat. He’s listening to classical music.

 

“Where we going?” He turns the knob on the radio down.

 

“Hotel Monaco on F St.” She says as she buckles her seatbelt.

 

“You got it.”

 

The ride to the hotel isn’t nearly as awkward as Darcy imagined it would be. James is more talkative in the car; his shoulders are more relaxed as he barely grips the wheel. He tells her about being in D.C. How he goes to the museums on his days off, spends time with Sam. He asks her about living in New York, laughs when she tells him how adamant she was about living in Brooklyn.

 

Darcy realizes she’s a little sad when he pulls up to the front door of the hotel.

 

“You couldn’t have walked this whole way.”

 

“Maybe I like to walk.” This time she hears him chuckle, “Thanks for the ride. You didn’t have to do that.”

 

He smiles at her. “I wanted to. Have a good night, Darcy.”

 

She pats him on the shoulder before she gets out of the car, “Good night.”

 

Okay so maybe she’s a little sprung on this random friend of Steve’s. And maybe that prompts copious amounts of Internet stalking which results in one finding. Bucky Barnes’ real name was James. Bucky Barnes was supposed to be dead.

 

A year later and Darcy knows that Bucky Barnes is very much not dead, is very much a previously brainwashes Russian assassin, smells like cedar and likes to listen to Tchaikovsky when he drives. This man is responsible for over two dozen assassinations and Darcy can’t stop thinking about his smile. What the hell is wrong with her? She doesn’t see him again after that night, even though they’re in D.C. for another month. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t look for him but he’s illusive; as much as a super spy as he ever was. She half debates, at least once a month, just asking Steve about him but she really doesn’t need it getting around that she has a thing for the Winter Soldier. Those Avengers are a gossipy bunch.

 

So she’s content to Internet stalk and mention to no one ever her serious crush on a geriatric man who happens to have stellar arms.

 

Lillian from accounting corners Darcy in the cafeteria one day and begs her to go out on Friday night. Darcy knows it’s just to pump her for information about Steve but Darcy hasn’t been out in a while and could use it and maybe she can trade drinks for intel.

 

They’re having a good night; Darcy was correct in her assessment but she was also correct in thinking Lillian would offer to buy. Score! She’s in the middle of telling Lillian that Steve puts cashew butter on his toast when they hear a loud bang behind them. Darcy’s immediate instinct is to investigate so she hops off her stool and makes her way to the source when a man in a white shirt steps in front of her, not blocking her path but blocking the path from her. She looks around his shoulder to see a full blown bar fight happening. Several men have joined the fray and are pulling more in left and right. She feels Lillian at her side and sees through her peripherals a man shove into the girl. Darcy places herself in front of Lillian and notices that white shirt man shifts so he’s still in front of Darcy. His back is flush against her front right side and she can feel his muscles jump, watches at how antsy he is to join the fight but stays back, in front of Darcy.

 

She finally looks up at his face and recognizes it immediately. The baseball cap isn’t doing much to hide the fact that James is the one saving her ass again. During the entire fight he doesn’t look at her and the noise to too loud for her to even try talking so she stands there and observes. She can’t let her brain go of how his body feels pushed against hers or that he still smells of cedar or that he’s randomly in the same bar as she is, pushing men away from her and her friend. The fight finally breaks up and before Darcy can say anything, James is lost in the crowd.

 

Lillian laughs nervously, “That was kind of intense.”

 

Darcy chuckles, “Yeah, yeah it was. Hey did you see that guy in front of me? That one in the white shirt?”

 

“Yeah, he was definitely making sure we didn’t get hit.”

 

“Yeah,” Darcy smiles, “He drove me home from a party, once.”

 

“No way! You think he knew who you were?”

 

Darcy shakes her head, “Probably not.”

 

Three months later and Darcy’s waiting in line for a cup of coffee and a vegan muffin at the anarchist bookstore when she hears a light cough behind her and turns to find James Barnes.

 

“Hey,” he offers her a small smile, “you work with Dr. Foster, right.”

 

“Yeah, we’ve met before. I’m Darcy.” She extends her hand, “and you’re James.”

 

His smile grows wider as he shakes her hand, “Everybody calls me Bucky.”

 

“When I first met you, you introduced yourself to me as James so that’s what I’m calling you.”

 

He rubs a hand over the stubble on his chin, “God, I don’t even…how long ago was that?”

 

Darcy could probably tell him the exact date she thinks about it so much but she plays dumb, waits a minute and thinks, “Maybe about a year or so ago.”

 

“Right when I got back.” He sighs as they step further in line, “I didn’t really know who I was and everyone kept telling me I was this Bucky guy, and I didn’t know who the hell he was. James seemed easier.”

 

“That’s understandable.” Darcy looks at him thoughtfully, “isn’t it kind of against the rules for you to be in here? There’s a lot of communist propaganda that could suck you back in.”

 

He looks serious for a minute but then she notices the smile playing at his lips. “Don’t tell on me. I like their coffee and it makes me feel nostalgic picking up some Marx for a bit of light reading.”

 

“As long as you’re not a socialist.” She winks at him.

 

When they get up to the counter James insists that Darcy have coffee with him so a quick trip to the bookstore turns into an hour of catching up. James is extremely interested in Darcy’s dissertation, which happens to be on socialism. Darcy is very interested on James’ recent mission to Calcutta of which he cannot disclose anything.

 

“Oh come on! We work for the same people!” Darcy pleads as she pops a piece of muffin into her mouth.

 

“Technically, I work for Nick Fury and you work for Dr. Foster.” He stirs the spoon in his coffee.

 

“Technically, Tony Stark signs both of our paychecks.”

 

“Technically, Pepper Potts forges his signature.”

 

“Touché. Come onnnnnn. I’ll hear about it at the next meeting anyway.”

 

James laughs, “Then you can wait.”

 

Darcy points her finger square into his chest and is about to bring a valuable point to her argument when there’s a knock on the window next to them. They both turn to find Natasha Romanoff sternly staring at both of them with an eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip.

 

James gives her a small wave before the redhead marches inside. You don’t have to be a super spy to know that Natasha’s mad and the scares Darcy a little bit. Rumor has it that she and James are kind of a thing and have been an on and off thing for like fifty years and Darcy can’t really blame either of them. They both look pretty damn hot in black leather and they both have skull-crushing thighs and they talk to each other in Russian so it’s a no brainer. But as Darcy observes Natasha yelling at James in the previously mentioned language she can’t help but notice how put together Natasha always looks where as Darcy currently has on the same sweater she wore yesterday but now with the edition of a slowly spreading coffee stain. Natasha doesn’t hide behind too big glasses or have that brain to mouth filter problem. Natasha is cool, man. But Darcy had a really good coffee talk with James and she’s been sort of banking on their serendipitous meetings being fate related (because, unlike Natasha, she’s a fucking hopeless romantic who watches too many Hallmark Channel movies) and, full disclosure, she’s pretty attracted to James so she was kind of being more than a little hopeful until Natasha showed up and knocked Darcy back into reality.

 

Their Russian banter has seemingly ended when Natasha pulls a chair up to their table and sits down with a huff. She glares at James but turns to Darcy and smiles a sincere smile.

 

“Hey, I’m Nat.” She holds out her hand to Darcy. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

 

Darcy takes it and mentally notes how pretty her eyes are, “Darcy Lewis. Yeah at Sam’s.”

 

“Oh that’s right! It’s nice to see you again. Thor’s always telling us about you.”

 

“He’s a good, dude.” Darcy smiles, “Look, I’m sorry about all this.”

 

“Don’t apologize at all. That’s definitely not what I’m mad about.” Natasha grabs James’ coffee mug and takes a sip, “Bucky was supposed to meet me in Fury’s office like an hour ago.”

 

James runs a hand through his hair and shrugs, “I don’t wanna go this time. I told you that, Natalia.”

 

Natasha turns to James and glares, “And I told you its non-negotiable,” then she turns back to Darcy and her face is softer, “I’m sorry, Darcy.”

 

They both stand from the table as Darcy tries to compute what the hell is going on.

 

“Thanks for the conversation.” James smiles and Natasha waves a goodbye as they retreat out of the coffee shop and disappear into the crowd.

 

Darcy spends another half an hour overanalyzing the entire interaction and figures it’s probably best to quit while she’s ahead.

 

Darcy’s in the grocery store a month later trying to figure out what she’d ever do with patty pan squash when someone walks behind her, flicks her on the shoulder, and keeps walking. Darcy turns quickly, having learned to be always on guard, lets her eyes scan the aisle when they zero in on a man bun and a black hoodie with a grocery basket slung on his forearm.

 

She plops the patty pan squash back into its wooden box without any gentleness and double times it to catch up with James.

 

She’s seen him around a few times since their day in the coffee shop. He always smiles and offers her a hello and she always returns the gesture but outside of that there isn’t much there. That doesn’t stop Darcy from going against her vow to cut ties and constantly thinks about him, exploring different ways to internet stalk, and possibly changing the way she navigates through Stark Tower in order to run into him more frequently. Is it a little crazy? You bet it is but for some reason, she just can’t let it go.

 

When Darcy finally catches up to James, he’s reading the label on a box of Chex and shaking his head.

 

She tries her best to sneak up next to him but she knows he hears her coming. He acts oblivious anyway as she punches him lightly in the arm.

 

“Hey there, Million Dollar Baby,” James laughs as he puts the Chex box back and peruses the rest of the cereal section.

 

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised that you just made that reference.” Darcy says smiling up at him.

 

“Tony forced a Netflix account on me. Don’t tell him I actually use it.”

 

“Your secret’s safe with me. Don’t you guys have, like, every food imaginable in the Tower?”

 

James shrugs, “Yeah, I guess but I like grocery shopping. It’s nothing like the old days but it makes me feel a little normal.” He sighs as he eyes the cereal aisle, “Except I never have any idea what the hell they make cereal out of these days.”

 

Darcy laughs, “Processed sugars, man. They’ll kill you. Well, they won’t kill _you_ but they’ll kill the rest of us.”

 

James chuckles, “So you’re saying I shouldn’t care.”

 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Live it up. Eat that glucose. My personal favorite is Fruit Loops.”

 

“These?” James plucks the red box from the shelf, “Mmm all right. If you say so.”

 

Without giving much thought to it, Darcy and James continue their shopping together, ideally strolling down the aisles commenting on different things and talking about their lives. Darcy likes having James around purely because he can reach the top shelf and this is the first grocery trip in a while where Darcy doesn’t have to hoist herself up and stand tiptoed to get a jar of peanut butter.

 

James looks over her shoulder at the checkout as she flips through the gossip magazines. Darcy tries really hard not to focus on how he smells, the same way he smelt at the bar that night, or that she can faintly hear him breathing. Her imagination gets the best of her when she starts thinking about that and she’s pretty certain she’s going to spontaneously combust.

 

They part ways at the checkout even though James offers to carry her groceries home for her.

 

Darcy makes a show of hoisting her bags up her shoulders and down her arms. “I’ve got a system, dude. Thanks, anyway.”

 

James lifts his left arm and the four grocery bags its holding, “And I have a bionic arm.”

 

Darcy smiles and shakes her head, “Such a showoff. The exercise’ll be good for me.”

 

“See you, doll.” He gives her a wave with his empty hand and winks at her.

 

She lifts an arm full of bags to him, “See you, James.”

 

After that things shift slightly, James sits across from her during a meeting and makes faces at her to stop her from drifting off to Maria’s droning. Sometimes he sits with her in the cafeteria. Sometimes they meet up for coffee at the bookshop and one time they end up at the Natural History Museum, following after Steve and saying inappropriate things about the exhibits. It's all well and good until a mission goes south and Darcy isn't prepared for her own reaction.

 

Darcy hasn’t been to that bar since the night of the bar fight but for some reason that’s where she wants to go. She’s had a hell of a week and really, really needed a drink and as tempting as drinking at home and alone sounds, she feels that maybe being at least surrounded by the illusion of people is a good thing.

 

It had been a shitty week because she had gotten attached to people who saved the world and said people had a habit of getting seriously hurt when they went to save the world. She hadn’t realized just how connected she felt to James when Steve rushed through the labs with James in his arms, yelling for Tony to hurry up. Darcy had rushed to the door just in time to see James out cold, his bionic arm hanging on to his torso by a grotesque mix of wire and muscle and his blood seeping all over Steve.

 

Darcy’s always been fairly shielded when it comes to missions. Fury and Maria always agreed that Darcy was still a civilian and the knowledge of all things Avenger was purely on a need to know basis. She lived in blissful ignorance, trailing them through YouTube videos and Google alerts. They all seemed indestructible to her but then she sees James out cold on a hospital bed and she really can’t handle it.

 

She can’t bear any kind of bad news so she goes about her work that week full force, continually chancing glances at the other labs, searching for the coming and going faces of Steve and Natasha and Sam and Bruce for something, anything at all.

 

She can’t take any more of it on Friday. She has to get out so she makes sure Jane has every scenario covered before she throws on her jacket, wraps her scarf around her neck, and heads out the door.

 

The bar’s down the street from her apartment. It’s an old man dive bar but those are the kinds of places she likes. She orders a beer and a shot of whiskey before her scarf’s even unwrapped and the bartender has enough sense to follow through with the request and not ask any questions.

 

She downs the shot in a second but takes her time with the beer, uses every sip as a different thought to process. Why does she care so much? It’s not like she and James are friends. They’d hung out a few times over the years but never with a purpose. He had still had so much of the Winter Soldier in him when they first met. Darcy had done some research when she figured it out and it scared her. He had scared her but he had continually shown her gentleness and regard. From the beginning, he saw her as something other than Jane’s sidekick. She had fooled herself into thinking he sought her out but she was foolish for those thoughts. He had Natasha. Why would be even bother with Darcy? And now he was probably dead and Darcy felt more ashamed at being upset than anything. Steve deserved to be crying over James; Natasha had earned the right to grieve but Darcy? Darcy could count on both hands the amount of times she had actually had a conversation with him. What gave her the right?

 

She flags the bartender down and orders another beer when she feels someone sit down on the stool next to her. She turns with every intention of telling dudebro to fuck off when her voice dies out in her throat. He looks like shit. He’s got a baseball cap over his greasy hair and the week’s worth of beard isn’t doing much to hide the fat lip, broken nose, and black eye. Darcy lets her eyes trail over his left arm, which is wrapped in a sling and held tight to his body. He turns to look at her and winces slightly.

 

“You should be in the hospital, idiot.” Darcy tries to smile but it feels watery and forced.

 

“Nice to see you too.” He raises his right hand with another wince and signals for the bartender to bring him a beer.

 

“What the hell happened?” She can’t look at him anymore and focuses instead on peeling the label off of her beer bottle.

 

“I don’t really know. Crossbones hit me with something, it slowed down my healing.” He rolls the beer bottle back and forth in his hands.

 

Darcy busies herself with the label and refuses to look at him. “Why are you here? There are so many other people you should be talking to right now.”

 

His lips quirk into a sad smile. “I wanted to be here.”

 

Darcy can’t help herself. “What about Steve? Natasha?”

 

“I saw both of them and they told me you had not so subtlety taken to pacing back and forth in front of Tony’s lab.” He coughs lightly as he brings his beer bottle to his lips.

 

Darcy huffs, “We were all worried.”

 

James puts his bottle down and places his hand over the one she has still worrying the label. “You were worried.”

 

Darcy squeezes lightly then lets go. “What difference does that make?”

 

James finally takes a sip of his beer and downs more than half before he puts the bottle back on the bar. “You know, I’ve fought almost every one of them. I know that I’ve hurt them. That the Winter Soldier hurt them.”

 

She turns her body to look him straight on. “You were brainwashed.”

 

His eyes don't quite meet hers. “I know but I still did it. I still remember it. You were the only person who didn’t flinch when I approached. And you’re the only one who accepted me as James, who didn’t try to bring Bucky back.”

 

“But I didn’t know you then.” Darcy bites at her bottom lip.

 

James smiles. “Exactly. I can start over with you.”

 

Darcy's lips quirk. “What do you mean?”

 

“Darcy, I like you. A lot.”

 

“Oh," She stares at him and bites back the full grin that is threatening on her face, "but what about Natasha?”

 

James shrugs, “She knows me better than anyone, even Steve. I think she’s had an idea for a while. She understands.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“She’s in love with Clint, anyway.”

 

Darcy chuckles, “You’re handling this way too casually.”

 

James shrugs, “There’s no need for dramatics. It is what it is. But I didn’t hobble through Brooklyn for semantics.”

 

“Oh, really? Then why’d you hobble through Brooklyn?”

 

“I’ve got some recovery time to get through but, uh, when I’m all healed up wanna grab a bite to eat or something?”

 

“Like a date?”

 

“Yes, like I date. But don’t expect too much, I ain’t one for fancy places.”

 

“I’m a hot dog cart kind of girl.” She takes a sip of her beer and smiles at him, “Also you could’ve texted me.”

 

James laughs, “Good to know.”

 

It takes almost three weeks for James to finally heal. The first Friday that he’s actually allowed to leave the recovery room he makes a beeline for Jane’s lab and tells Darcy, in no uncertain terms, that he’ll swing by to get her at seven.

 

She stresses over what to wear for longer than she’d care to admit but settles on a green dress with black tights and brown boots because it’s casual but still kind of nice and the green brings out her eyes. He knocks on her door at seven on the dot. His hair’s a mess from the wind outside but Darcy half guesses it’s also from him running his hands through it on his way over. She wasn’t aware that he owned jeans but they sure look good on him and Darcy really never thought she’d call a black crew neck sweater sexy but there you go.

 

He jokes about the hot dog cart but takes her to an old Italian place a couple blocks from her apartment. Darcy laughs when he orders the usual and he confides that he’s been coming here since the 40’s. There was even a time he was in the states as the Winter Solider in the 70’s, came to his senses for a few days, and ended up in that small Italian restaurant eating a bowl of spaghetti before they found him.

 

Darcy orders the usual too and decides that she could live off of that for the rest of her life. James is fairly chatty but inquisitive, asking Darcy all the things he’s always wondered about her. Apparently, he had been hitting up Thor for info on her for months which Thor found highly amusing and used to turn Darcy into a mythic character in her own right.

 

“So you didn’t actually tame a Bilesnipe?”

 

Darcy snorts, “No, I’ve never even been to Asgard. Kind of rude that they never invite me, actually.”

 

“So you didn’t taze him then?”

 

“That one is definitely true. I don’t think he’ll ever let that go.”

 

“He does talk about it a lot. He really plays you up, you know.”

 

“He’s my buddy.”

 

“He’s a good buddy to have.”

 

Their date turns out to be perfect. After dinner, they end up at the MoMA and James is perfectly patient as Darcy reads every information tag and lets her take pictures of him mimicking different works of art. When he plucks a pansy out of some brownstone’s window box and tucks it behind her ear, Darcy reasons that she’s probably in some alternate reality but it’s too good, just cheesy enough to make her question if its all real.

 

When they get back to her apartment, he rocks back and forth in his old boots and Darcy can’t help herself when she invites him in.

 

He pulls her in for a long kiss and dammit, he can kiss but when they break apart for air he smiles breathlessly but tells her he should head home. She nods, still in a daze, but he reaches for her again and they kiss themselves silly for a while. Darcy backs into her apartment but James swears he should go so he pulls the door behind him. She tries to squelch her disappointment as his footsteps grow fainter and fainter and decides to go about her normal nightly ritual.

 

Darcy’s literally about the step in the shower when there’s a loud knock on her door. She turns the water off , wraps a towel around herself, and makes her way to the door. She never uses the peep hole, can rarely see out of it with her shitty eyesight anyway, so she leaves the chain locked and pulls it open. Through the crack she can just make out James’ flushed cheeks and bashful expression. She closes the door to unlock the chain and then swings it up.

 

Before she can say anything his hands are around her waist and pulling her to him.

 

“Change your mind?” She asks between kisses.

 

His chuckle is an octave deeper than it normally is, “Seemed like the best decision.”

 

Darcy sighs as his starts to kiss his way down her neck, “Good call.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: So this is a one shot I’ve been playing around with for a little while. It’s completely unrelated to my other MCU stories. P.S. I haven’t abandoned “The Formal Weather” pattern. I just have some writer’s block with where I want to go with it. Hopefully, as we get closer to Civil War, the inspiration will start coming. Thanks for sticking with me and thanks for reading! Enjoy!


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